1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data retrieval. More specifically, the present invention relates to remotely uploading data from a SIM card onto a database.
2. Background of the Invention
Today many cellular telephones are equipped with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. SIM cards are necessary for the operation of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) devices, a mobile device standard used by over 3 billion people. Each SIM card stores network specific information used to authenticate and identify subscribers on a network. This information includes the Integrated Circuit Card Identification (ICCID), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Authentication Key (Ki), Local Area Identity (LAI), and Operator-Specific Emergency Number. The SIM card also stores other carrier specific data, such as the Short Message Service Center (SMSC) number, Service Provider Name (SPN), Service Dialing Numbers (SDN), Advice-Of-Charge parameters, and Value Added Service (VAS) applications.
Often it is necessary to manage the content of SIM cards. There are many elements on the SIM card that need to be managed which control various aspects related to network access, such as the networks the card can access, the priority of each network, how often they should scan for roaming partners, etc. Unfortunately, managing the content is typically a one way street when it comes to those elements on the SIM card. Service providers typically send elements or updates to these SIM card files and get some kind of response, an acknowledgement that they were received on the device. Until recently, service providers did not have a method to proactively query the content on the SIM cards and see what was happening on the device side. This put service providers at a disadvantage when it came to trouble shooting network access issues. The service providers knew what should be on the card and what they thought was on the card, but didn't know for sure what was on the card. There was no way other than to remove the SIM card from the customer's device and insert it into a SIM card reader connected to a PC and read the contents of that SIM card.
Recently, service providers have somewhat gained a capability to remotely read a SIM card without removing it from the customer's device. The service provider can query the SIM card and ask for specific data elements to be returned, with the data elements returned over the air (OTA). This is referred to as an OTA platform. When the service provider queries the SIM card for an OTA response, the data comes back to a client and the client displays the data.
Currently, a browser-based client supplied by an OTA platform vendor can request a remote read of the SIM card and display the response on the client screen. However, there are currently many limitations to this attempted solution. First, the user must not browse away from the client while the upload request is pending, or the response data is lost. Since the request can take several minutes to be processed, this limitation is a burden on the user. Also, with this attempted solution, the data is not persistent. Once the request is successfully processed and returned to the client, if the user browses away from the screen the data is lost for further evaluation. The data is not stored and must be requested each time.
Existing systems cannot provide the necessary information to diagnose many wireless problems. When a device is roaming, either internationally or domestically, the network is not able to read the SIM card. Additionally, general service issues cannot be determined by existing systems. What is needed is a platform to remotely read a SIM card which stores responses from the SIM card.